Tag Archives: Mark Balmer

2016 K-Tec Racing Clio 182 Championship, Rounds 9 & 10

Words: Josh BarrettFeatured Photo Credit SJN Photography

As the 2016 K-Tec Racing Clio 182 Championship moved into the second half of the season, it was still all to play for upfront, where 2015 runner-up Patrick Fletcher had managed to find a slim points lead over reigning champion James Bark in what was otherwise a perfectly alternated string of victories.

Round 9

Things didn’t change at Anglesey, where it was Fletcher who grasped pole position by 0.11 seconds from Bark, and narrowly ahead of Phil Wright and George Williams. The first race went the way of Lincolnshire-based Bark, however Fletcher had made the most of a good start to hold the lead in the opening two laps, with Bark and Williams tussling behind. The latter driver however lost out in the battle and dropped to ninth, before Bark moved through to take the lead.

It was Mark Balmer who occupied the final podium spot by the close of the shortened race, coming through from seventh on the grid to finish ahead of Wright, Williams and Trevor Gregory. Arron Sharp had been running well up in sixth place, yet a spin at Rocket dropped him to the back of the pack.

Round 10

The second outing was marred by a coming together between Williams and Balmer after a brake issue for the former driver, however Fletcher held on to take his turn on the top step after getting ahead of rival Bark on the second lap. This time it was former stock hatch frontrunner Scott Sharp who finished third ahead of Gregory and Wright, with Balmer recovering to ninth despite damage.

That single extra victory for Fletcher means that he leads the championship going in to rounds 12 and 13 (at Silverstone on 20/21 August) by 38 points before drop scores are taken into account, where the pair’s battle is unlikely to show any sign of slowing.

2016 K-Tec Racing Clio 182 Championship, Rounds 5 & 6

Words: Josh BarrettFeatured Photo Credit SJN Photography

Round 5

Patrick Fletcher went one better that last year at Croft in the K-Tec Racing Clio 182 Championship, coming away from the North East not with only both pole positions and race wins, but also a subsequent commanding lead in the championship points. The 2015 runner up initially lost out to reigning champion James Bark following the first race getaway, but by the end of lap one it was Fletcher from Bark, with Phil Wright in third.

Wright made his move on Bark at Tower on the second lap to produce a podium order that was to stay until the race end, and the final two positions in the equally-spaced five car train were reversed on lap four when Mark Balmer overtook George Williams.

Round 6

It was Fletcher from Wright once again in the second outing, but this time Mark Balmer took advantage of an absent post-lap one Bark to take his first podium in third place. Wright tried his utmost to make a move on Fletcher at Tower but couldn’t make it stick, and former Stock Hatch front runner Scott Sharp was best of the rest to claim fourth position.

The next outing in the 2016 K-Tec Racing Clio 182 Championship is at Snetterton on 25/26 June 2016

As a strong grid of Clios took to the track for the first time this year at Donington Park, it would have been natural to expect that 2015 title contender Patrick Fletcher and eventual champion James Bark would be ones to watch.

Yet with the top ten places in qualifying separated by less than a second around the National Circuit, the opening meeting kicked off what looks to be a season that’s closer than ever in the K-Tec Racing Clio 182 Championship.

As the flag dropped for race one however it was the 2015 championship’s 10th placed man Martin Ward who made the most of the sprint to turn one, finding his way up to fifth at Redgate from tenth on the grid. Bark took control of the race but only as the frontrunner of a tightly-knitted pack, initially holding off Williams until lap five when Wright reversed their positions for second and third places. By this point Ward had dropped to seventh and Fletcher had made his way through to tag onto the back of the leading pack, setting the fastest lap along the way.

A good battle was hotting up through the mid-race distance between the number 14 car of Trevor Gregory and former stock hatch frontrunner Scott Sharp, with the pair going side by side in the drop down through Craner Curves. Various positions looked in jeopardy after fluids were laid down on lap nine, yet at the flag the race duly went the way of Bark to start his 2016 campaign, with Wright in second place and Fletcher getting the better of Williams on the last lap to close in and take third. De Graaff placed fifth with Gregory sixth.

Round 2

The first few grid slots were occupied by much the same cars in the second outing of the day, where the top eight remained close but ordered until lap four, with an order of Bark from Williams and newly promoted Fletcher, then Wright, De Graaff and Ward.

It wasn’t long though until the Bark and Fletcher rivalry was going wheel-to-wheel, with the pair side by side through Coppice but also sharing their space with the now-omnipresent Wright and De Graaff. Bark dropped to fifth initially but soon fought back, taking third at Redgate and by the penultimate lap he’d managed to come out at the head of the battle.

The defensive driving from the trio however left enough breathing space for Fletcher to notch up some consistent pace; sufficient to pull a lead that would prove impossible for Bark to rein in before the end without any mistakes or traffic. As the flag came out for lap 11, the race duly went the way of Fletcher, from fastest lap-setting Bark and DeGraaf, then Wright, Williams and Ward close behind.

In a reverse to race one results, Scott Sharp just had the better of brother and Club newcomer Arron for ninth and tenth places, and there was little to separate Richard Thirbin and Terry Roughton across the line for 11th and 12th.